Virginia Football Preview: Defense

There were times last season, Angelo Crowell says, when his instincts failed him. In Virginia’s 3-4 defense, he was supposed to plug a gap or cover an area of the field. But he inadvertently found himself playing the team’s old 4-3 technique, leaving him in the wrong position. And remember, this was UVa’s best defender.

Crowell points out his own miscues as an example of how difficult it was for the Cavaliers to adjust to their new defensive scheme. If they struggled on defense last season (and they did), he argues, it was because they were learning a system that was brand new to all of them. Since they are now in their second year under that system, they should be more comfortable and confident with it. So their biggest problem will be solved. Or so the logic goes.

“We came into it blind last year. Now we all know what we’re supposed to do,” said Crowell, a senior linebacker. “Personally, I feel like things are going to be a lot different. We have a year under our belt. We know what the coaches want. We know the system. All we have to do is execute it.”

To a degree, Crowell is correct. When Al Groh and Al Golden came to Virginia and installed the 3-4 – an alignment that remains rare in the NFL and college but that Groh used with success for years with the Giants, Patriots and Jets – it was a major transition for the Cavaliers. They had one spring and one preseason to learn the system and its nuances. That probably wasn’t enough time to gain a total command of the defense. As a result, assignment errors plagued UVa all season. Mistakes are part of the learning process, and the Cavaliers were learning every week.

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